U.S. patent number 10,272,974 [Application Number 16/109,966] was granted by the patent office on 2019-04-30 for boat tower hinge.
The grantee listed for this patent is Richard W. Hord, Scott J. Mills. Invention is credited to Richard W. Hord, Scott J. Mills.
United States Patent |
10,272,974 |
Hord , et al. |
April 30, 2019 |
Boat tower hinge
Abstract
This invention relates to an improved boat tower hinge which
supports a boat tower for use in supporting tow lines used for
towing skiers or the like. The hinge can support a boat tower in a
raised position while allowing the tower to be swung to a lowered
rest position. In the raised tower position the hinge wedges an
elongated tongue with polymer sides into an elongated groove having
polymer locking inserts to reduce the side-to-side motion of the
tower.
Inventors: |
Hord; Richard W. (Kissimmee,
FL), Mills; Scott J. (Kissimmee, FL) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hord; Richard W.
Mills; Scott J. |
Kissimmee
Kissimmee |
FL
FL |
US
US |
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Family
ID: |
65434126 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/109,966 |
Filed: |
August 23, 2018 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20190061882 A1 |
Feb 28, 2019 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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62551430 |
Aug 29, 2017 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B63B
34/67 (20200201); B63B 21/56 (20130101); B63B
23/02 (20130101); Y10T 16/54 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B63B
23/02 (20060101); B63B 21/56 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;16/319,337,341
;114/253,242,343,353,361 ;403/409.1,374.1,367 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Miller; William L
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hobby, III; William M.
Parent Case Text
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application
No. 62/551,430, filed Aug. 29, 2017.
Claims
We claim:
1. A boat tower hinge comprising: a hinge base having a bottom
portion attachable to a boat, said hinge base having a top portion
having an elongated groove therein, said groove having a polymer
insert having a pair of angled sides attached therein; a hinge
pivot arm pinned to said hinge base and rotatable thereon and
having a bottom portion having an elongated tongue having a pair of
angled edges shaped to fit into said elongated groove when said
rotatable hinge pivot arm is rotated thereon, said elongated tongue
having a pair of angled edges having an elongated polymer member
attached to each of said edges, said elongated tongue being sized
to wedge said pair of elongated polymer members into said polymer
insert to lock said rotatable hinge pivot arm to said base when
wedged therein; whereby wedging said tongue into said insert locks
the hinge base and pivot arm together.
2. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 1 having an
electric actuator attached to said hinge base.
3. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 2 in which said
rotatable hinge pivot arm has a pivot arm extension having said
electric actuator operatively coupled thereto.
4. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 3 in which said
electric actuator has an extendable and retractable rod pinned to
said pivot arm extension.
5. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 4 in which each
said elongated polymer member attached to said rotatable hinge
pivot arm is made of polyoxymethylene.
6. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 5 in which said
polymer insert has an indentation therein for holding said
elongated polymer members thereto.
7. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 3 in which said
electric actuator has an electric solenoid having an extendable and
retractable ram operatively coupled to said pivot arm
extension.
8. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 4 in which said
hinge base has a stop for abutting against said pivot arm extension
when said pivot arm is in a lowered and stowed position.
9. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 5 in which each
said elongated polymer member is attached to each of said edge of
said tongue with threaded fasteners.
10. A boat tower hinge comprising: a hinge base having a bottom
portion attachable to a boat, said hinge base having a top portion
having an elongated groove therein, said groove having a polymer
insert having a pair of angled sides attached therein; a hinge
pivot arm pinned to said hinge base and rotatable thereon and
having a bottom portion having an elongated tongue having a pair of
angled edges shaped to fit into said elongated groove when said
rotatable hinge pivot arm is rotated thereon, said elongated tongue
having a pair of angled edges having an elongated polymer member
attached to each of said edges, said elongated tongue being sized
to wedge said pair of elongated polymer members into said polymer
insert to lock said rotatable hinge pivot arm to said base when
wedged therein, said hinge pivot arm having a pivot arm extension;
an electric actuator attached to said hinge base and having an
extendable ram coupled to said pivot arm extension for raising or
lowering said hinge pivot arm between an operative raised position
to a collapsed rest position; whereby wedging said tongue into said
insert locks the hinge base and pivot arm together.
11. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 10 in which each
said elongated polymer member attached to said tongue is made of a
Delrin polymer.
12. The boat tower hinge in accordance with claim 10 in which said
hinge base has a stop for abutting against said pivot arm extension
when said pivot arm is in a lowered and stowed position.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a boat tower and especially to the hinge
assembly for a folding boat tower such as used for supporting tow
lines used for towing skiers or in raising and lowering boat
tops.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Water sports have gained great popularity including water skiing
and wake boarding in which a power boat pulls the skier behind the
boat using a tow rope. The tow rope is attached to the boat and has
a handle at the other end thereof for the skier to hold onto. These
ski boats often have a tower extending above the boat for the tow
rope. Tow rope towers are frequently fixed rigidly to the boat but
it is desirable to be able to fold the towers when they are not in
use.
Boats commonly have a T-top or soft top covering a portion of the
hull and it is desirable to be able to fold these tops at times
such as when storing the boat.
Hinged folding ski towers on boats in the past have tended to have
hinges that allow the towers to wobble or shift position at the
hinges when the tower is raised to an upright position of the
hinge. It is also difficult to lock and unlock the hinge when
raising or lowering the tower.
The present invention is directed towards a hinge for a boat tower
to allow the tower to be quickly raised to an upright position and
lowered to a rest position. A rigid hinge base is attached to the
deck of a boat which base has a rotating hinge arm supporting a
tower thereon. The rotating hinge arm stabilizes and locks the arm
in the rest position when the tower is raised. This allows the
hinge tower to be supported in a firm and rigid manner when the
tower is in a raised position without any sway or movement of the
hinge pivot arm.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to ski towers on boats and especially to the
hinge assembly for a folding boat tower such as used for supporting
tow lines used for towing skiers or in the raising and lowering of
boat tops. The hinge assembly has a hinged rotating arm having a
tower attached thereto which may be rotated between an erect tower
position and a lowered position when not in use. The hinge base is
attached to the gunnels of the boat or to the deck and has an
elongated groove on the top thereof having a tapered polymer member
mounted therein. The hinge rotating arm has an elongated tapered
tongue having a plastic pad attached to each side thereof which
engages and wedges into the base tapered polymer locking member in
the base groove.
A boat tower hinge has a hinge base having a bottom portion
attachable to a boat and a top portion having an elongated groove
therein. The elongated groove has a polymer locking insert having a
pair of angled sides attached therein. A hinge pivot arm is pinned
to the hinge base and rotatable thereon and has a bottom portion
having an elongated tongue having a pair of angled edges shaped to
fit into the hinge base elongated groove when said rotatable hinge
portion is rotated thereon. The elongated tongue has a pair of
angled edges with an elongated polymer member attached to each of
the edges. The elongated tongue is sized to wedge the pair of edge
elongated polymer members into the groove polymer insert to lock
the rotatable hinge portion to the base when wedged therein. An
electric actuator is attached to the hinge base and is operatively
pinned to a pivot arm extension to rotate the hinge pivot arm.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further
understanding of the invention, are incorporated in and constitute
a part of the specification and illustrate an embodiment of the
invention and together with the description serve to explain the
principles of the invention.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective of a sectional view of a boat tower
attached to a boat with the hinge of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the closed hinge of FIG.
1;
FIG. 3 is a partial perspective of the partially opened hinge of
FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a partial perspective of the fully opened hinge of FIGS.
1 through 3;
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the swing arm of the hinge of FIGS.
1-4 wedge lock; and
FIG. 6 is a partial perspective of the hinge taper lock of the
hinge 1-5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT
This invention is for an improved hinge which supports a boat tower
in a raised position while allowing the tower to be swung to a
lowered rest position.
Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 6, and especially to
FIGS. 1 and 4, a boat tower 10 having hinges 11 is shown attached
to a boat 12 gunnels 13. The tower 10 has a pair of tower arms 14
and 15 each having a hinge 11 attached to the boat 12. In FIGS. 1
and 2, the hinge 11 is locked in a closed position with the tower
arm 14 and 15 in their fully raised position. FIG. 3 has the hinge
11 in a partially opened position while FIG. 4 has the hinge 11
fully opened to place the tower in a rest or storage position.
The boat hinge 11 has a base 16 attached to the boat 12 having a
pivot arm 17 rotatably attached to the base 16 with a hinge pin 18.
The hinge pin 18 is attached through the base 16 and through a
pivot arm extension 20 extending from the pivot arm 17 to allow the
pivot arm 17 and the tower arm 14 to rotate on the hinge base 16.
The top of the base has an elongated groove 23 while the pivot arm
17 has an elongated tongue 19 shaped to fit into the elongated
groove 23 when the hinge is supporting the tower arms 14 and 15 in
an upright position as shown in FIG. 1. The base 16 has an open
area 21 with a bottom 22 that attaches to a gunnel wall 13 on a
boat 12 and an elongated groove 23 on the top. An electric actuator
24 is mounted inside the open area 21 to the base 16 bottom 22 and
has a ram 25 which can be extended and retracted by the actuator
when activated by a switch as desired. The actuator can be of any
type desired such as an electrically actuated solenoid. The ram 25
is pinned to the pivot arm extension arm 20 at the pivot point 27
which extends below the hinge pin 18 so that when the ram is
extended it will drive the pivot arm extension 20 to lift the pivot
arm 17 and tower as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. When the ram 25 is
retracted into the cylinder 28 it will pull the extension arm 20 to
lower the tower arm 14 as shown by FIGS. 3 and 4. A positive stop
30 is attached to the base 16 which will abut against the pivot arm
20 of the hinge pivot arm 17 to stop the tower in a lowered/stowed
position as shown in FIG. 4. The electric actuator will lock the
ram 25 in either a raised or lowered position of the tower arms 14
and 15 when the power to the actuator is turned off. Thus the tower
can be hoisted from a stowed position to an upright position by the
actuation of the electric actuator 24 and rotated to return the
tower to a lowered position when not in use, such as when the boat
is being moored.
Referring more specifically to FIGS. 5 and 6, the hinge base 16 is
rigidly fastened to the gunnels 13 of the boat 12 or to any solid
surface on the boat hull using screw or bolts fastened through the
gunnel wall 13. The hinge base 16 is formed with an elongated
groove 23 sized for the pivot arm 17 tapered tongue 19 to fit
thereinto when the pivot arm 17 is folded to a closed position. The
elongated groove 23 has a tapered polymer wedge insert 33 installed
therein to form a positive lock when the tongue 19, with elongated
polymer members 34 is attached to each edge thereof, is inserted to
wedge the tongue 19 elongated polymer members into the polymer
groove insert. This locks the base 16 to the pivot arm 17 with the
polymer members pressed against each other to avoid any metal to
metal contact.
The pivot arm 17 has an elongated polymer tapered wedge pad 34
installed on each edge of the rotating pivot arm 17 tongue 19 using
flat head screws 35 as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The tapered wedge
pads 34 have a taper to match the tapered sides of the tapered
polymer wedge 33 attached to the base 16. In this manner the pivot
arm 17 is folded or rotated into a closed position lowering the
tapered wedge pads 34 to wedge into and lock the pivot arm 17
securely therein against only limited sway so as to block movement
to not more than 6 degrees. A preferred polymer for the wedge pads
34 and the tapered lock inserts 33 is polyoxymethylene or DELRIN.
It also eliminates contact of the aluminum surfaces between the
pivot arm 17 and the base 16. Thus the plastic tapered wedge pads
34 and the plastic taper lock insert 33 have matching taper angles
that guide and locate the rotating pivot arm 17 into the plastic
taper lock 33.
The tapered angles of the wedge pads 34 wedged into the plastic
tapered wedge lock insert 33 limits the side-to-side motion of the
pivot arm 17 in a closed position with the tower raised and also
eliminates metal to metal contact. The pivot hinge 11 also
eliminates any paint on paint or powder coating on powder coating
contact. The tapered wedging surfacing also acts as a locking,
positive stop and as a guiding surface. A machine pocket 36 as
shown in FIG. 6 having a polymer wedge insert indentation having a
wedge pad 34 rigidly therein may also be used to further secure the
connection between the sides of the tapered insert 33 and the
tongue wedge pads 34 if desired.
It should be clear at this time that a boat hinge for supporting a
skiing tower, boat top or cover, or the like has been provided.
However the present invention is not to be considered limited to
the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than
restrictive.
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